Services and methods are known that match travelers who wish to make similar trips, so as to take advantage of the economic and environmental benefits of ride sharing. However, these services typically do not take into consideration the riders' personal traveling preferences. For example, they do not allow a rider to specify a gender, smoking preferences, music preferences, or to specify different departure times. This leads to unpredictable and sometimes unpleasant ride sharing experiences, especially when the methods are applied to individual trips as compared to regular, frequently repeated, short trips such as commuting to work and back.
In addition, known systems and methods for matching travelers are typically restricted to matching automotive travelers who commute within a local region. They are typically focused on “commuting areas” around cities and are therefore best suited for car pooling and local commuting. This does not benefit travelers who wish to take trips spanning a particular region, country or continent, and who may wish to share modes of transportation other than automobiles.